Mystery Girl
by popov378
Summary: Chloe's attention is caught one night. Thus begins her quest to get to know Beca Mitchell.


Beca's drunk. Too drunk, the kind of drunk where people just step aside and watch her self-destruct. She's in this crowded apartment, surrounded by people she kind of knows, and someone asks her if she thinks she's had too much, as she's fisting the Fireball and swallowing it in long, drawn-out gulps. Gulps that don't really burn anymore. That's when the switch flips. Suddenly Beca isn't just off-balance drunk; she's mad, Tasmanian devil levels of mad. People reach out to try to temper her, but it's like trying to a fight a strong wave – Beca just throws them all away, back to shore. There's a flash of red hair in the corner as Beca storms past, but she's too far gone to notice, much too far away from everything. In a second she's out the door, and it's almost as if she was never there.

Chloe Beale won't forget though. This storm of a girl has caught her attention, and she'd be lying if she said that the girl doesn't occupy her thoughts for the rest of the night. Chloe flirts and flits about but she's wondering if the girl got home safe, if she drinks that much regularly. She wishes she went after her, but then she realizes that she doesn't even know this girl, she's being ridiculous, isn't she? The night passes uneventfully.

The next day it's Sunday, and Chloe has her weekly brunch with Aubrey, which is more of a 5 course meal/conversation. They talk about their weekends, going further into detail than they would with anyone else. The course begins with eggs sunny side up, hash browns, and a mountain of bacon. Chloe retrieves a large glass of iced tea (the only drink she enjoys in the dining hall) and then sits down, ready to dive into her food and stories. Aubrey starts, detailing how she went home with an acapella boy, some kid with beautiful hair called Jesse. But Chloe's knee is hopping up and down, and she's unable to fully focus on Aubrey's words. The blonde soon notices her friend's impatience.

"Jesus, Chloe, what?"

"What?" Chloe replies, mouth full of yolk-soaked bacon.

"You're bouncing up and down like the energizer bunny; clearly you've got something to say. So spill."

"I met this girl. Actually, I didn't meet her. I just saw her at the party. And then she left."

"And…"

"And she just caught my attention, that's all."

"So you like her?"

"I don't know. I don't even know her."

"Since when do you like girls?"

"Jeez Aubrey, I didn't say I was falling for her, I just said she happened to intrigue me, is that a crime?"

"No, but with you intrigued generally means sexually interested"

"Yeah okay maybe there's a little bit of that. I just wanna meet her. See what makes her tick? Something like that."

"Sounds like a mission."

"Yeah. Definitely."

"So what's this mystery girl look like?"

"Short hair, kinda punk-ish, dark hair, bunch of piercings, dark makeup? Different from the typical girl around here."

"…all right. So does this girl eat? Cuz most of us like to show up to brunch and drown our drunk sorrows in greasy food….or is she too cool for something as mainstream as a dining hall?"

"I didn't say she was a hipster chill out Bree. We haven't done a lot of people watching, maybe she is somewhere around here."

But scanning the room, Chloe's eyes do not land on Beca, and so she remains, disappointed.

"No, I don't think she's around. Maybe she just hasn't woken up yet."

Chloe can't deny she's a bit let down.

She gets up for the table, gnawing on her lip, thinking about her mystery girl.

And suddenly, there is she is, leaning on the banister in line for food, wearing a jean jacket and looking better than Chloe remembers. Suddenly, she looks up and locks eyes with Chloe, but there's no recognition. Duh, Chloe could smack herself. Of course there's no recognition – they haven't met! So her mouth opens to say something and then it closes once her brains catches up, remembering that they're not even drunk acquaintances. Chloe can't tell if the girl notices but she hopes she doesn't, as she quickly walks away and rounds the corner. She leans against the ice cream cooler and breathes, deep, heart pounding. What is this girl doing to her? She gives up trying to slow her racing heart, and reaches for the ice cream scoop, because if anything can solve her problems it's a scoop of cookies and cream. She makes the cone, and dunks the scoop back into the murky water, returning back to her table.

The look that Aubrey gives her when she gets back is weird. It's not one she recognizes immediately. And then it's gone before she can recognize it.

"Where'd you disappear to?"

"Oh you know, couldn't decide to what to get, typical."

"You know you're a horrible liar Chlo…"

"Okay, so I just might have seen her."

"You saw her, where is she?!"

"She was in line and I kinda made eye contact and expected her to say hi or something so I looked too long and of course she didn't say anything cuz she doesn't know me and then I just kind of ran away. Ahhhhhh."

"Relax Chlo, it's okay I bet she didn't even notice, it's kinda early and people don't function normally on Sundays anyway."

Chloe exhales and focuses on her ice cream, biting through a large piece of Oreo cookie. She's feeling better by the second. But then of course the tables have to turn again. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees a person approaching and when she looks up it's her. She's with a boy, and they sit at a table two over from her and Aubrey's, talking easily. Chloe wonders momentarily if they're dating. Wonders why she cares. Stops wondering before she has to label the feelings swirling around in her stomach.

Then Aubrey catches her gaze, and looks over to their table, but quickly averts her gaze.

"That's him," she hisses.

"Who?"

"Jesse…."

"Ohhhhh." Small world indeed.

Maybe this means she'll get to meet mystery girl.

"Do you want to hook up with him again? How was it?" She's asking solely for her own benefit, but Aubrey doesn't have to know.

"I mean it was all right, nothing too special."  
"You should do it, he seems sweet."

Aubrey eyes her with an appraising look, asking "what's in it for you?"

"What do you mean Bree, I just think you could use a nice guy in your life."

"Oh please, he looks just like any other Barden bone head, what makes him so special that you're pushing him on me?"

"Hessitttingwithher," Chloe mumbles.

"What was that?"

"He's sitting with HER," Chloe forces out.

Aubrey chuckles. "Guess that's convenient," she's still laughing. She looks over and inspects the girl. Definitely not Aubrey's type but hey, whatever floats Chloe's boat. It's been a long time since she's seen her best friend this excited over someone.

"All right, I'll consider hitting that again. For you. Just for you, so that's clear. He didn't exactly know what he was doing with his penis to be completely honest."

"Oh Bree, the sacrifices you make for me…"

"Don't be ungrateful, might have to slap your sassy face."

That gets a giggle out of both of them, and they look back at the other table simultaneously. A plan has been formed. They leave brunch and depart to the library. There are no more citings of mystery girl that day.


End file.
